Not to offend anyone in any way but this thread somehow reminds me of a conversation I had a while back with a couple of folks regarding A/V equipment. While we were all in agreement I'm sure there will be many who disagree.

We were questioning whether or not some folks were so far deep into tweaking, calibrating, testing and etc that they somehow are missing the whole point. Enjoyment out of listening to good music and watching great video on good equipment.

I probably tweak and mess around with my system like most other folks and I'm sure there are some detailed refinements that can probably be applied to bring the system to absolute peak performance (but can I really tell the difference?). I also know there is better components that will probably blow mine out of the water but I really don't care...I absolutely enjoy the heck out of throwing in a Stevie Ray, Dianna Krall CD or a good movie and then sitting my butt down in the sweet spot with an ice cold beer and listen to the music or the movie. I just wonder sometimes if there are folks who can't or do not enjoy their systems in this manner.

Like I said, please no offense to anybody whatsoever and I'm not trying to insinuate that by doing these shootouts you guys are not enjoying the systems. This particular thread just so happened to remind me of that conversation...that's all.

Not to offend anyone in any way but this thread somehow reminds me of a conversation I had a while back with a couple of folks regarding A/V equipment. While we were all in agreement I'm sure there will be many who disagree.

We were questioning whether or not some folks were so far deep into tweaking, calibrating, testing and etc that they somehow are missing the whole point. Enjoyment out of listening to good music and watching great video on good equipment.

I probably tweak and mess around with my system like most other folks and I'm sure there are some detailed refinements that can probably be applied to bring the system to absolute peak performance (but can I really tell the difference?). I also know there is better components that will probably blow mine out of the water but I really don't care...I absolutely enjoy the heck out of throwing in a Stevie Ray, Dianna Krall CD or a good movie and then sitting my butt down in the sweet spot with an ice cold beer and listen to the music or the movie. I just wonder sometimes if there are folks who can't or do not enjoy their systems in this manner.

Like I said, please no offense to anybody whatsoever and I'm not trying to insinuate that by doing these shootouts you guys are not enjoying the systems. This particular thread just so happened to remind me of that conversation...that's all.

That's a very good post Rick, and I couldn't agree with you more. Some people ( and I'll admit, I can be one of them) just don't know when to stop buying and leave well enough alone.

In my case, being a musician and having ties in the entertainment industry in general, it's just the perfectionist in me. However, I've just about reached that point. As soon as I find a good receiver to hook my outlaws to, one that lives up to my standards, that'll be it for a good number of years. I hope!

jinhan, thanks for doing what I should have been smart enough to do to begin with. I had to wade through stuff to get to the point I could post everything to begin with. The tenor of that thread has denigrated a bit overnight, but I also noted that there have been 10,900 views. Hopefully someone came away with something positive.

As suggested, the 5db boost was a curve ball cleverly done by Craig. The difference it made was clearly noticeable. Made a case for understanding calibration, sub placement, room treatment, etc. can significantly affect LFE.

The coolest part of the day was knowing the Craig owns a multitude of subs (7-8-9 when I did a quick count all over the house when we were all done) and trying to guess which 4 we were listening to. THEN it turns out that we were listening to 2 subs for 4 places. And the same sub sounded different for each of its tests.

Every once in a while someone will get's his feathers ruffled here, but for the most part, it's pretty laid back and peaceful. I do not frequent AVS, and have no intention of doing so. Too disrespectul over there.

And thank you for reminding me to post those pics over here. I, too, like to put faces to the names. I was so concerned about getting the faces, that I was remiss in not getting some shots of the room and equipment where we did the listening. It also helps those who were not in attendance to see the physical layout. I believe someone else (John?) took some shots of the room. And I know Craig had his sweet daughter, Elise, come in a take a group shot. Hopefully those, as well, will be posted in the near future.

I had a wonderful time this weekend at Craigs place listening to 500 and the SVS Ultra. The nicest part of it was meeting Jack, Ray, Dave, Craig, Jeff and Nick. All very pleasant honest people. Its refreshing to read a thread where people are friendly and just want to exchange ideas compared to what goes on at AVS. The listening session confirmed what I knew since I bought the 600 last month: how much better the Axiom subs are compared to the SVS lineup. While some biased types at AVS are claiming there may have been irregularities I can say Craig did a great job organizing the meet and conducting the neutral testing. The final tally by the 6 listeners says it all, the Axiom 500 is sonically better than the Ultra. No doubt about it.

The 600 is just a tad better than the 500 in extension and SPLs but either one is an excellent addition to anyones audio system. The Ultra is there for now but over time will be upgraded, maybe for another Axiom sub.